Alabamians to attend White House immigration conference, but message won't be all praise

"Our coalition has been very aggressive in advocating against the president's appalling record of 2 million deportations." -- Kyle Tharp

A pro-immigration delegation from Alabama is headed to the White House on Wednesday for a conference, but it will not be simply to cheer the president.

Kyle Tharp, a spokesman for the Alabama Coalition for Immigration Justice, said the group hopes to press President Barack Obama to move faster away from a deport-first immigration policy.

"Our coalition has been very aggressive in advocating against the president's appalling record of 2 million deportations," he said.

Wednesday's event in Washington, the White House National Immigrant & Refugee Integration Convening, will bring together advocates and social service providers from across the country to discuss ways to make communities more welcoming of immigrants.

Representing Alabama's immigrant communities will be Evelyn Servin, of Russellville; Isabel Rubio, of Birmingham; Frank Barragan, of Mobile; and Mayra Rangel, of Oneonta.

Workshops will include subjects related to economic and educational opportunity, strengthening pathways to citizenship, and the deferred action for childhood arrivals program that urges "prosecutorial discretion" toward people who entered the United States illegally as children.

"We are excited and honored to have this opportunity to meet with high-level administration officials to discuss important issues facing immigrant communities." Servin said in a prepared statement. "We look forward to a robust dialogue, and hope to have the opportunity to discuss how the administration's appalling record of mass raids, detentions, and deportations also affects immigrant community integration."

Tharp said about 500,000 people have applied for consideration under the DACA program.

"We'd like to see that expanded," he said.

Barragan, who is the south Alabama organizer for the immigration group, said he hopes to talk about proposals for giving people who came to the United States illegally an opportunity to gain legal status.

"I really want to get into the pathway to citizenship. I want to make sure we're all on the same page," he said.

Obama has promised to issue executive orders later this year to bypass Congress, which thus far has failed to pass legislation to reform U.S. immigration law. But Barragan said he still believes a legislative solution is possible.

"I'm hoping that it's not going to come to that stage," he said when asked about the president's use of executive authority.

Barragan said he believes 98 percent of people living without legal permission in Mobile, Baldwin County and the Wiregrass area of the state would be willing to pay fines in exchange for legal status.

The Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama has worked for 15 years to help immigrants in the Birmingham area assimilate. Rubio, the nonprofit organization's executive director, said in a prepared statement that she hopes her participation in Wednesday's conference will help expand that work.

"HICA works every day to help immigrant families become a part of our communities, whether by becoming citizens, learning English, paying taxes or opening businesses," she stated. "We applaud efforts of the White House to increase opportunities for every community to welcome immigrants."